Their perfect scheme
by Ming24
Summary: Both Toushiro and Karin like each other but they have been hiding their feelings...Matsumoto and Rukia finally decide to play matchmaking....HitsuKarin and a lil bit of IchiRuki
1. Chapter 1

"Oh come on. You know you want to, you really need a break, taicho."

Toushiro slammed down his work in annoyance. His eyebrows twitched violently as he glared at his lieutenant.

"Getting out of work is one thing, but playing games and partying is completely another, Matsumoto." He said monotonously.

"Taicho, they are fun!!" Matsumoto replied, grinning playfully.

He didn't reply, just kept writing his paper work and ignored her.

"Well, if you go this time, I promise that I will do a paper work for you."

He stopped writing suddenly and raised his eyebrows in hope, thinking hard about it; the idea of Matsumoto's doing a paper work was so appealing to him. Just how many times would she offer to do something like that?

He eyed her suspiciously, deciding to give it a chance.

"Ok, I will go, but that is only because of your offer."

"Thank you, taicho." She was grinning widely, jumping up and down.

"Who's going to this thing anyways?"

"I'm not sure, taicho. I used hell butterflies to tell them, but I know that Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Kira are coming definitely. But a few others might be coming too, I don't know who else hear it.

She replied, pretending to think hard.

He just groaned audibly at her answer.

...

Both Toshiro and Matsumoto made their way out of the 10th squad office to join the party in the 5th squad. He knew Ichigo was made the captain of the 5th squad after Aizen, and that was why he avoided going there. He knew Ichigo wasn't a bad captain; he worked hard and understood his subordinates very well. He was happy to see that his childhood friend, Hinamori, was doing well as Ichigo's lieutenant too. Ichigo understood Hinamori's loss and he was grateful for it. But that didn't change that fact that Ichigo really annoyed him, especially when he called him 'a kid'

He wasn't that short anymore, and he didn't understand why everyone still called him 'a kid'. It was true that he was the youngest captain in the Gotei 13, but that didn't mean that he was 'a kid'. He just wanted everyone to remember him for his ability to fight and run the squad.

When they reached the 5th squad office, Matsumoto reached the handle and pushed the door open with him following behind her. They were greeted by the sounds of laughing and chatting, and all heads turn towards them.

"Hey Rangiku, hey T-" Ichigo greeted Matsumoto, but his voice cut out at the sight of him. He was clearly shocked with his appearance.

"Hey kid" Ichigo smirked at him as soon as he gained his cool back.

"It's Hits-" He was about to reply back in his usual annoyance tone, but stopped as soon as he heard Rukia's voice.

"IDIOT!!" Rukia screamed from behind, then ran to them and side kicked Ichigo in the face.

"How dare you call him a kid? It's good to see you Hitsuguya taicho!" Rukia smiled at him.

He swore, he hardly get scared of anything, but the sudden change in Rukia's expression really gave him a creep.

"Now, that is ugly." Yumichika said with Ikkaku, after looking at them. Both of them were standing next to Kira, who was trying not to laugh at Rukia and Ichigo.

Every shinigami knew that the 5th squad captain, Ichigo Kurosaki, and the third seat of 13th Squad, Rukia Kuchiki, were dating, and he was afraid of her, even though he tried hard not to show it.

They soon broke into small groups, Ichigo and Rukia were fighting in the corner, Matsumoto was dragged to a drinking group by Ikkaku, and he, who didn't know what to do, was left alone, standing near the window looking at the sky.

Suddenly, the room went quiet and everyone looked at the door as soon as they heard the foot steps outside.

"I thought everyone were here already." Renji declared and looked questioningly at Matsumoto.

"I guess not..." Matsumoto replied back and giggled, and signaled him to look at the door.

Just then the door bursted open and none other than Karin Kurosaki stepped into the office.

...

Karin wasn't here alone as she came into the room, her sister, Yuzu, was with her. At first Toshiro wasn't surprised to see the shocking looks on Kira. But he later realized that there was something else going on; Karin was supposed to be in the real world, performing her duty as a shinigami for at least 3 months, she wasn't supposed to be here in the Soul Society yet. The fact that she was here in the same room with him made it very suspicious. He also noticed that Matsumoto and Rukia stared intently at her as if they were expecting her to come here. Both of them looked happy that she was here and it made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Matsumoto knew his secret; she knew Karin was his crush during his staying in the real world. He tried to his best to hide it from her, but failed miserably because she knew him too well. He knew she knew it from the start, since the day he helped Karin in the soccer game. She always smirked at him mischieviously every time Karin was mentioned in the conversation. And that didn't change even when Karin died and came to stay in the Soul Society as a shinigami. Though Karin was placed in the 11th Squad, not 10th squad, she still didn't stop teasing him about her.

The truth was, he hadn't seen Karin for a long time. The last time he saw her or talked to her was her graduation from the academy. He knew she was placed in the 11th squad as soon as she graduated, because Captain Zaraki liked her, she was, after all, Ichigo's younger sister. So he supposed Captain Zaraki saw her as little Ichigo. Yuzu, on the contrary, ended up in his squad. He knew her personally because she was one of his subordinates. And to be honest, he was surpried to find out that they were related because Karin was everything that Yuzu wasn't.

Knowing Yuzu, he had a chance to know Karin's story from her and it made him liked her more and more. But it made him feel more awkward at the same time because he realized that his feeling towards her probably went beyond crush. He didn't know how to act when she was around, and that was why both of them hardly met.

'Good!' He thought, sending his death glare back to his lieutenant, who gave him an innocent smile.

"Karin, what're you doing here?" Ikkaku asked bluntly.

"I don't know. I got a message from hell butterfly telling me to go back to the Soul Society. When I'm back, Yuzu just drag me here." Karin replied back.

"Hi, everyone." She proceeded to greet everyone in the room, but her voice cracked when she felt a pair of intriguing blue eyes starring at her. Those intense blue eyes certainly belonged to a body, a body of a boy who grew up to be a nice looking teenager named Toushiro Hitsugaya.

...

Karin simply stared at Toushiro, or at least the person whom she thought was him.

She knew he grew up, she grew up too. They were not kids who play soccer together anymore. It made her sad to think of this. She considered him as a friend, and maybe even more than that. He was her hero in the soccer game against the middle schooler, and she had always liked him. But she didn't know what she did, why he had been avoiding her since she came to the Soul Society. She made it her top priority to visit him everyweek since she joined the 11th squad, but every time she visited him, he wasn't there or she found him shutting the door right in front of her face with the excuse 'I'm busy'. After 3 months, she gave up, making up her mind that if he didn't want to see her, then she didn't want to see him either.

She knew her life in the Soul Society without Toushiro had been good. She had her father and her brother as the captain of the 3rd and the 5th squad, not to mention that she was the best friend of Rukia Kuchiki and also the fifth seat of the 11th squad. So nobody dared to get to the wrong side of her. She also made friends with other shinigamis, except those from 10th squad, of course, because she didn't feel like going there, after what he did to her.

"Toushiro?" she asked questioningly, already knowing the answer deep down. White hair, blue eyes, nobody looked like that that.

Toushiro wore a small smile on his lips as he nodded, then he turned to greet the person next to her, Yuzu

"Hello, Yuzu."

"Hello, it's nice to see you here, Hitsugaya taicho." Yuzu replied sweetly.

Karin however found herself not looking at anyone else, but him who was standing right in front of her. She knew he was gazing back at her too. Slowly she felt herself captivated by his stare and started to blushed slightly

'What the hell?, why is my face getting warmer?' She thought.

'Why is he here? I haven't seen him for awhile.'

'Why am I feeling this way to someone who has been avoiding me?'

Sensing the tension in the room, the 10th squad lieutenant quickly came to the rescue. Matsumoto coughed loudly, interupting everyone's thoughts and captured everyone's attention. Her intention was to break the awkward moment between her young captain and the object of his affection.

...

"Oh, I guess everybody is here. Let's party!!" Matsumoto said gleefully.

"Yuzu, I need you to help me with the recipe that I get from the real world, can you come here?" Rukia asked suddenly.

"Oh! of course." Yuzu smiled and ran towards both Rukia and Ichigo, leaving Toushiro and Karin stood, facing each other.

Not knowing what to say to each other, both of them turned and walked away. They decided to stay away from each other as much as possible.

"This doesn't work, they are too stubborn." Rukia finally whispered to Matsumoto, after looking at both Toshiro and Karin.

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Matsumoto replied and winked at Rukia.

...


	2. Chapter 2

With a satisfying click, the door of the 5th squad office was shut behind them. Both Rukia and Matsumoto smirked mischievously.

"I'm surprised someone like Hitsugaya Taicho doesn't even notice what we plan to do" Rukia spoke finally.

"They will thank us later." Matsumoto replied, much to Rukia's agreement.

Triumphantly, both of them turned and walked away from the door. They were giggling when they saw both Ichigo and Renji stood, blocking their ways to 10th squad office, with identical looks of annoyance on their faces.

"Tell us!" Ichigo said, trying to control his anger.

Both women exchanged a glance.

"Tell you what?" Rukia asked defensively.

"What did you do to Karin and that kid? She is my sister, Rukia!!" Ichigo shouted back.

"I know you want Hitsugaya taicho and Karin together, but Rangiku, are you sure that this doesn't go too far? Renji finally spoke.

Both Rukia and Matsumoto looked at each other again and said in unison "NO!"

...

The first thing Toushiro felt as he laid lazily on the floor drifting to the wakefulness was headache.

He opened his eyes and blinked, once, twice. 'Did I sleep on the floor all night?' He thought.

As soon as his eyes adjusted to the light in the room, he finally realized he was still in the 5th squad office. The last he remembered was the party that he came with his lieutenant, who persuaded him to drink sake with her…and then, nothing. He couldn't remember anything after that.

"_Taicho, why don't you tell Karin the truth?" Matsumoto ask him seriously_

"_About what?" He asked her annoyingly._

"_About how you feel, taicho" She replied._

"_There is nothing to tell" He replied, looking down at the floor._

_He didn't know where to begin; he didn't even know what to say to her. _

"_Anything taicho, I'm sure she won't mind talking to you. You were friends in the real world, why can't you be friend here? She said again, not planning to give up easily._

_But he kept quiet._

_Sensing his stubbornness, she finally got up and walked to a table nearby, brought sake with her and told him to drink._

_He didn't know why he listened to her, but after he took a glance at Karin, who was chatting with Yuzu on the other side of the room. He would drink whatever Matsumoto gave him._

And he regretted it.

He never drank sake before; it wasn't a surprise if he ended up on the floor like this. But where the hell was his lieutenant? Actually, where the hell was everyone? Why did they leave him on the floor like this?

His headache was increasing by the moment. Surely someone like Matsumoto wouldn't do that to him. No, she wouldn't dare.

But he had to think again. Before he became unconscious, she had been trying to get him to talk to Karin. What if she planned the whole thing just to set them up?

He groaned. What a well-thought scheme this was

"Matsumoto!!" He yelled out loud.

...

"Matsumoto!!"

This was the greeting that met Karin's ears as she slowly opened her eyes. Blinking rapidly, she tried to sit up, but failed as soon as she felt a headache. Her limbs felt like rubber.

Clutching something soft underneath her, she used it to draw herself up. Then she realized that she wasn't in her bedroom, but on the sofa of the 5th squad office.

'Why am I still here? Where is Yuzu and everyone?' She thought.

She frowned. The last thing she remembered was accepting sake from Rukia.

"_Why don't you go and say hi to him, Karin?" She heard Rukia asking her when she was talking to Yuzu._

"_Why should I? Haven't you noticed he acts as if I'm not here in this room?" She replied monotonously._

"_Well, maybe he doesn't know what to do." Rukia smiled._

"_Rukia! How many times I have to tell you I'm not going to talk to him first."_

_Yuzu shook her head, but stopped suddenly because she gave her a glare._

"_Anyways, I'm glad you come here. How is everything in the real world?" Rukia asked, changing the subject._

"_It is ok, but not that great. I miss everyone here" She smiled replying back._

_Well, that was the truth. She missed everyone, and that included the guy with white hair and blue eyes who was standing near the window, looking at the sky._

_She sighed. Just what did she do? Why did they turn out to be like this?_

_She didn't want to admit it, but she knew she it hurt her. That was why she started walking to Ikkaku and Kira to join their drinking game._

_"Karin, do you want to try this?" Rukia came to talk to her 15 minutes later with a bottle of sake in her hand._

She knew she wasn't a type of person who got drunk easily. Joining the 11th squad certainly taught her how to drink and take care of herself.

Damn!

She knew it was Rukia and her sake.

She couldn't remember anything after drinking it.

"I'm going to kill you, Rukia. She muttered.

Laying on the sofa for a moment, she finally got up and walked to the door to leave the office, and that was when she realized the truth.

"Karin?" Toushiro spoke.

She was shocked.

She knew that voice. 'What the hell?' She thought.

"Toushiro? What are you doing here?" She asked back, suddenly feeling not so calm anymore.

...

"How could you, Rukia? She is my sister!" Ichigo yelled at Rukia once they get to the 10th squad office.

"How could I not?" She asked back aggressively, pushing him back to the wall.

"Don't tell me you don't see how miserable Karin is when taicho doesn't talk to her." Matsumoto spoke.

"See what? She is doing fine without that kid"

"That's Hitsugaya taicho to you" Matsumoto imitated her young captain, with a small smile on her lips.

"That is not funny!" Ichigo spatted.

"What if he hurts her, Rukia!!" Ichigo yelled at Rukia again.

"Relax, He will never hurt her and you know that." Renji spoke finally after keeping his mouth shut the whole time.

Ichigo gaped at him

"What?"

"I'm saying that Hitsugaya taicho will never hurt Karin." Renji repeated.

Rukia rolled her eyes and said "The whole Soul Society knows he likes her for ages."

Renji nodded, showing his approval.

"Oh! Renji. You notice it too right?" Matsumoto asked gleefully.

"Excuse me?" Ichigo snapped.

"Umm! Sorry to break this to you, but it's actually obvious, only the idiots wouldn't see... but of course, I don't mean you when I say that" Renji smiled and waved sheepishly.

"I shouldn't have helped you, Rukia" Ichigo simply said, feeling like he was betrayed, especially after what Renji said.

"We don't do anything wrong, we just help speeds things up a bit. You know they have been avoiding each other for 6 months now."

"And it shouldn't be like that because they like each other." Matsumoto grinned.

"I know but...she is my sister." Ichigo protested, but gave in finally.

...


	3. Chapter 3

Toushiro was almost close to losing his composure. He had a nagging headache and an awful temper at having his lieutenant leave him in the 5th squad office, only to find out that he wasn't there alone, but with the girl who was the root of his every problem.

Karin Kurosaki.

"Umm, you are here." He simply said, feeling completely stupid with his statement especially when she saw him like this.

"Do you know how do we end up here?" She asked, slightly annoyed. But she couldn't help but smiling a little at the sight of the young captain trying to sit up. 'How many people would have a chance to see him like this?'

Forcing himself, he finally stood up and faced her.

"No, I don't. You?

"So do I." She replied. "I wake up there." She pointed at the sofa which she had been sleeping on all night.

"I think we should leave right now. You are supposed to be back in the real world, and I'm supposed to be in my office."

Karin just listened while she imagined Matsumoto's reaction when she found out that Toushiro wasn't at the office. 'She would have the best time of her life and his subordinates would probably throw a big sake party.' She thought.

They walked to the door together, only to find out that there was a kido barrier blocking them.

"Why that doesn't surprise me?" He muttered to himself, already thinking of ways to torture his lieutenant once he managed to get out. He knew Matsumoto was responsible for all of this, and this time he was going to kill her for real.

"Do you suppose who is behind all of this?" She asked.

"Matsumoto, I think." He replied, turning to look at her.

"I think it's Rukia." She said, stepping backwards as soon as she realized they were standing too close to each other.

"No, it's not." He said.

"Yes, it is." She replied, not giving up easily.

"Karin, I knew it's Matsumoto. Everything fits. She told me to come to the party yesterday with her."

"And you believe her? Toushiro, she is your lieutenant, honestly you should know her better than that."

"She said she would do a paper work." He retorted.

"And everyone here think that you are a child prodigy" She stated sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Why do you think it's Rukia?" He asked.

"Well, she gave me sake. I think I have been tricked. I have been drinking with Ikkaku and Yumichika since I joined the 11th squad. I know I'm not drunk that easy. I'm sure something is wrong with sake that Rukia gave me last night. I don't remember anything after that."

"Then I guess both of us have been tricked." He concluded.

...

"You did what? Locking them up together is enough, why do you have to do that?" Ichigo yelled at Rukia.

Rukia jumped and kicked him from behind.

"Relax, it's not like we poisoned them or something. It's just a sleeping potion and a truth potion." She said simply.

"What? Where the hell do you get them from?" He turned and yelled at Rukia,

Matsumoto who had been quiet for awhile, raised her hands eagerly. Ichigo looked at her and found himself not so surprised anymore.

"_Nemu!!"_

_The 12__th__ squad lieutenant jumped slightly when she heard Matsumoto calling her name._

"_Yes?" she replied._

"_I'm doing a research on arrancars. Do you think you can help me?" Matsumoto asked sweetly._

_Nemu took some time to think, but finally decided to help_

"_Follow me." She said monotonously and leaded Matsumoto to the 12__th__ squad research room._

"_The document on arrancars is here."_

"_Oh! Than-…. Umm!! What are these bottles? Matsumoto asked, pointing at the shelf on the right side._

"_They belong to Mauri sama."_

"_What are they?" Matsumoto asked curiously._

"_Potions that Mauri sama no longer need. They are put here waiting to be destroyed."_

"_Oh! I see" Matsumoto said, picking up a bottle filled with pink liquid, and observed it carefully._

"_The tag here said it's a truth potion, are you telling me that you really have a truth potion or something?"_

"_Mauri sama was asked to create a truth potion, to use with shinigamis in the 5__th__ squad, because we don't know who else is on Aizen's side, but Aizen is dead now, so we don't have to use it anymore." Nemu explained._

"_Interesting! I don't know that we have something like that here is the Soul Society."_

"It's prohibited for a reason and it's supposed to be destroyed!! How can you use it?" Ichigo yelled at Matsumoto as soon as she showed him the bottle that she stole from the 12th squad research room.

Renji looked at the bottle and gaped. "How did manage to steal that bottle from Kurotsuchi taicho?"

'All right, I'm still surprised' Ichigo thought.

"I stole it for this purpose" Matsumoto beamed, but still didn't answer Renji's question.

Ichigo's face paled immediately, he didn't want to know what was going to happen inside his office.

...

Toushiro thought that Karin looked absolutely adorable even when she was pacing and cursing around the office.

'Wait, What?' He thought. 'I didn't think like that, she is just Karin, the girl I played soccer with and Ichigo's little sister. Nothing more than that. Surely it was just because of the headache.'

He slowly closed eyes, didn't want to see her in the same room with him anymore as he was hearing a voice inside his head telling him to tell her how felt about her.

He groaned, ignoring the voice, shook his head and cursed later on, but only managed to make his headache worse.

"Toushiro!" Karin called.

"You are a captain, can you do something about this?"

"I can't. From what I see, it's a barrier which cannot be broken from the inside no matter how strong you are, but it doesn't last long. All we can do right now is waiting for the person who creates this to come and releases us, or until the barrier is broken by itself.

Karin groaned audibly.

"Do you think it's Rukia?" He asked.

"Of course, it's her. We both know it's her. No one can create a barrier like this, no one we know is that good with kido, not even Matsumoto!" She answered, walking back to a sofa, but somehow lost her balance and was about to fall.

He quickly grabbed her by the waist and steadied her.

Looking into his gorgeous blue eyes, Karin found herself get lost in them. Their faces were just an inch away from each other and she almost forget to breathe.

Seconds later, she pushed him off, said 'Thank you', and turned around quickly

'I'm standing in his arms.' She thought, and blushed heavily.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I am." She replied, but she knew she was not okay.

The office had grown too small and too warm for Toushiro's taste, he didn't like it. He knew it was because of Karin, who was leaning against the wall, crossing her arms over her chests. There was an awful lot of space between them, and yet he had become aware of her presense in the room as if she was standing right there next to him.

Karin, on the other hand, was thinking hard of how to get out. She didn't want to stay with him in the office alone like this especially when she was aware of of a mysterious voice that started talking to her inside her head about Toushiro. She avoided the eye contact with him and looked down at the floor all the time.

...


	4. Chapter 4

"All right, that's it!" Karin said impatiently, determined to get away from Toushiro as much as possible. She grumpily walked towards the other side of the wall which immediately put a half room worth of space between them and blurted.

"I lied. I'm not okay."

Toushiro moved towards her, looking worried.

"STOP! Stay there, just stay there." She shrieked and signaled him to stop walking and stay where he was.

His face darkened and his jaw tightened.

"What is wrong with you then?" He asked with a slight annoyance in his voice.

She stayed quiet.

He was confused with her action. They were okay together when they woke up. Now she just wanted to be away from him as much as possible. He never bothered trying to learn about the mystery of female species before, the fact that he managed to have 2 female friends still surprised him somehow. And he honestly didn't care what she told him to do, as he kept walking towards her.

She looked up and found that he was inches away from her. Their eyes locked in an intense gaze, neither of them diverted their eyes away from each other.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked again softly, holding her hand.

She still kept quiet.

An awkward silence filled the room. As he looked at her, he could tell that she was uncomfortable. He really felt bad for her; she probably didn't want him to be there at all. So he finally let go of her hand and started walking back.

She looked at him, half relieved and half disappointed. Part of her wanted him to keep holding her hand just like that, but another part told her it was better this way, she didn't think he would want to be here with her. Plus, she didn't know how long she could resist the mysterious voice in her head telling her what to do.

"You!" She said softly, finally gave in to the voice.

He frowned and looked back at her. Just what the hell did he do this time? He was sure he did nothing to upset her.

She bit her bottom lips that started to tremble, and finally broke down into tears.

"I'm scared!"

He immediately turned and look at her.

"Scared of what Karin? Why do you say that?"

"I'm scared of you, I don't want to be around you. Whenever I'm around you I can't think properly." She replied.

...

"Shhh!" Rukia glared at Ichigo after seeing him talking to Renji. "I can't hear a thing."

Ever since they decided to go back to the 10th squad office, they barely sat and discussed about the situation inside the 5th squad office. The women, Matsumoto, and Rukia, were too curious about what was going on when they were not there. Ichigo was too worried about Karin, and Renji was simply afraid of Toushiro's and Karin's wrath after they were released from the room. So they ended up walking back to the 5th squad office.

Once they got there, Both Matsumoto and Rukia instantly pressed their ears to the door, hungry for sounds that indicated what was going on inside, while the men simply frowned ferociously and resisted the urge to drag the women out.

"Why don't you go back to your squads, I'm sure they all wonder where you are." Ichigo said, trying to reason with his girlfriend and Matsumoto.

"Oh stop it!" Rukia snapped.

"I don't need to work all day you know. I'm sure other shinigamis in my sqaud can do my job."

Matsumoto nodded.

"The 10th squad doesn't need me to do a paper work. Taicho has been taking care of that, so I'm free."

...

Toushiro nervously made his way towards Karin, he was didn't know what to do when she cried. Seeing her tears made him felt guilty because he knew he was the reason of it, He wanted pull her closer to him and told her that everything was going to be alright. But he knew he better stayed quiet and waited for her to continue.

"When I'm around you, I can't think. It's like my brain doesn't function anymore!" She said. "And I just feel like I'm an idiot because I care about you a lot when you obviously doesn't care about me."

He was beyond shocked! Did she just say she care about him? Did he hear it right? Was it possible that she feel the same way about him?

"And you didn't tell me this before." he asked quietly, while trying to register everything she just said. "I'm sorry, Karin. I never meant to hurt you."

She raised her eyebrows at him, and saw that his face was turning red slowly. She smiled a little.

Seeing her smilling at him, he smiled back and nervously took her hand into his and interwined their hands together.

"I like it when you smile, Toushiro. You look nice like that. You should smile more."

"I will." He replied delicately.

Both of them sat next to each other on the floor. Karin rested her head on his lap and curled up like a cat. Toushiro closed his eyes, while stroking Karin's hair with his free hand. They were happy with each other.

"Why do you keep avoiding me?" she asked.

He immediately stopped stroking her hair.

Shit!

'I'm not ready for that. How can I answer her?' He thought.

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to answer her question as he felt the weight of her head disappeared from his lap. Karin's attention was changed, she was looking at something else. He looked at her and found that she was looking at the kido barrier intensely. And he knew that the barrier were about to be broken.

...


	5. Chapter 5

Both Toushiro can Karin stood up, looking at the door.

"You know what? Right now I just want to kill those two."

Toushiro smirked. "I second that."

Together, they grabbed the door and opened it, as they felt the barrier was completely broken.

Both of them didn't have time to digest anything once they stepped outside. Their eyes were trained at four people, who foolishly didn't run for their lives when they had a chance.

"How could you?" Karin cried immediately when she saw Rukia. "Are you crazy or something? What are you thinking?"

Rukia knew her best friend was really mad with her, so she tried to muster a smile.

"I just want you to be happy."

"Oh! Please, don't give me that excuse; you can do better than that." She snapped.

Toushiro emitted a harsh laugh at this; he enjoyed seeing Rukia's facial expression and he knew Karin was trying hard not to throttle her. He, too, had to fight the urge to throttle his beloved lieutenant.

"Taicho, you're out. I miss you." Matsumoto cried gleefully at the sight of him.

"You do realize that there will be hell to pay as the consequence of your action right?

He asked, glaring at her.

"Don't be so mean, Taicho!!" She whined, but still kept the innocent looks on her face.

Ichigo and Renji stayed mute, looking at the scene in front of them, and decided that if they left, it could probably went unnoticed by both Toushiro and Karin as they were so focused on the women.

"And who tell you that you can leave?" Karin asked, sending her brother a murderous glare as she felt him started walking backwards slowly.

Rukia turned and looked at Ichigo, the smile disappeared from her face as she muttered "Idiots."

"Well, we didn't have anything to do with this." Renji said, defending himself and his friend.

Toushiro and Karin exchanged glances, and frowned.

Matsumoto and Rukia said something about pathetic and idiots

Ichigo and Renji went paled and stiffened.

"And you know that we will never believe you right?" Toushiro asked Renji.

"I'm sorry, Karin." Ichigo mumbled.

"Damn right, you should be, how can you do this to me Ichi-ni?'

Ichigo stayed quiet, he looked at her guiltily. If there were times that he regretted being with Rukia, this was it.

"I just don't understand. How can you? Wait! Did Yuzu know about this too?"

Ichigo nodded and replied. "She didn't know much, she just knew that we were throwing a party, and she had to drag you to meet him."

Toushiro groaned audibly at this. Yuzu was the last he expected to know about this, she was just way too nice to be in this.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my business?" She yelled at him.

"All right!" Ichigo finally exploded. "I know what Rukia and Matsumoto did was wrong and may not be forgivable. But what the hell do you want me to do? I already say I'm sorry. And how many times do I have to say it to you till you forgive me?"

"You too, kid!" Ichigo turned to look at Toushiro. "Look at them!! Do you know why they are doing this? Matsumoto loves you, and she wants you to be happy. How long does she work with you? Do you honestly think she doesn't know you?"

This was the first time that Toushiro wanted to protest but found himself speechless, he knew everything Ichigo said was right.

"Okay, I'm going to hate myself for the rest of my life for saying this. But everybody knows you like each other, so just get over it, will ya?"

Ichigo paused, breathing heavily. He felt like he had to let it all out. He loved Karin. Even though he didn't like the idea of his little sister growing up and had a boyfriend, he had to admit that he couldn't see anyone else fit her perfectly as much as the 10th squad captain. He had been watching both of them avoiding each other for awhile, and it bothered him, especially whenever he saw his sister looked sad. He just didn't want to see her like that anymore, and he was willing to give up his over protective brother image for her sake. That was why he participated in this plan.

"And you!" Ichigo walked towards his girlfriend and the 10th squad lieutenant, who stood quietly next to each other.

"Do I really need to remind you that I've told you about this? Why we have to go this far, locking them up together and using a potion on them? Just what the hell you two were thin-"

And Ichigo stopped at this, he realized his BIG mistake; he just told both Toushiro and Karin what they were not supposed to know.

Karin had been listening to everything her brother said. She knew they loved her and she almost said sorry to them but...

"Tell me, What kind of potions you were using?" She said angrily.

"Ahh, it's a truth potion that Matsumoto stole from Kurotsuchi taicho." Renji instantly replied, scratching the back of his head nervously at the same time. He knew they couldn't lie to her anymore.

The truth hit Karin, hard. This was the answer of everything. This was was why she felt so emotional towards Toushiro in the office, this was why she heard mysterious voice in her head, and she couldn't believe that she did exactly what the voice told her to do. How could she live with this? She just told him how much she cared about him.

Toushiro was utterly shocked, but he couldn't say that it was unexpected. He knew something was wrong with him once he woke up and saw Karin in the office.

He sighed in relief, at least he was able to resist that voice.

"Matsumoto! Give me that potion now! I will make sure no one has to suffer because of it." He yelled at his lieutenant.

"You are mean, taicho." Matsumoto whined again, and gave the bottle to him relectantly.

Feeling betrayed and horribly embarrassed, Karin started shaking. But her pride wouldn't let anyone see her like that.

"I...I have to get out of here." She whispered, and walked out immediately.


	6. Chapter 6

"Karin." Toushiro said.

He turned to look at her, but it was already too late, she already walked away.

His feeling was torn between following her and tearing four shinigamis who were standing in front of him to shreds. But he knew this was not the time to battle what to do first. So he followed her out.

"Wow! That was something Ichigo." Matsumoto said

"This is why I love you so much, Ichigo Kurosaki. You just know when to swoop in and be damned heroic to save me." Rukia said, and kissed him passionately.

Renji cleared his throat.

"I have one more thing to say."

"And what's that?" Matsumoto asked, looking confused.

"Just run while we can."

...

"Karin!!" Toushiro called after her. "Wait!!"

Karin heard him calling her name, but she didn't stop. She couldn't, she really couldn't. How could she faced him after what happened inside the office.

So she walked faster, didn't want him to catch up with her.

Toushiro knew she didn't want to be followed, but he needed to talk to her. He knew this was the best time to talk to her, if he let it passessd he would never have a chance like this again. So he decided to use the shunpo.

Karin got a surprise of her life when she felt him grab her arm and stopped her.

"Let me go, Toushiro" She said through gritted teeth, still didn't turn to face him.

"We have to talk." He told her, tightening his hold because he knew that she wanted to flee so bad.

"I have nothing to tal-"

"Then hear me out! Stop running away." He yelled at her.

She stopped immediately. turning around to look at him.

"I didn't run away!" She yelled back.

"Then what were you doing?"

Silence.

She couldn't answer him.

When they stopped yelling at each other, they started to become aware of unwanted attention, as many shinigamis were looking at them curiously.

Toushiro growned loudly, he knew sooner or later the news about him and her were going to spread. It was just too strange to see him follow someone. Everybody in the Soul Society knew the young captain of the 10th squad was too arrogant to do something like this, the only person who had been seen with him was his lieutenant, and she was the one who followed him. The fact that the person he was following was Karin Kurosaki didn't make it better; they hardly talked, or met each other. He knew what he was doing was going to start some rumours.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" He asked her softly.

She took some time to think but finally nodded.

...

Toushiro meant to say something as he looked at Karin, but his mind went blank, and as it did, he felt his stomach flip-flop. They were sitting and watching the sky together at very same place where they met each other for the first time. In the sunset, he just thought that the girl besides him looked divine; her eyes sparkled, her long black hair pushed out of her face, and a little smile playing its way across her lips as she was looking at the sun. He just knew right then that he didn't need a truth potion, he was ready to tell her everything.

"Well, I guess this is a good time to explain myself, huh?" Toushiro smiled a little, trying to keep what he promised her in that office.

Karin shook her head and made a comment "You smile again."

"Okay, to make the story short. I kinda like you since I met you here for the first time." He glanced at Karin and chuckled at the look of shock on her face. "Don't make a face like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like this." He imitated her.

Karin was laughing so hard now. The look on his face was just priceless, who could imagine the 10th squad captain looking completely shock with the mouth hung open.

"Stop laughing at me." He said, blushing heavily.

"Okay okay." She said, trying to calm herself. "That long?"

"Yes, that long. But don't tell anyone about this, I have my reputation to keep."

"I guess at first I was just impressed with you. You weren't scared of me when you saw me for the first time. You know, everyone get scared of me even in the Soul Society, nodody wanted to play with me or talk to me, except my grandmother and Hinamori. That is why I love them so much. When I first saw you, I thought of her. You and her were alike, both of you were persistant and try to be nice to me."

"We are different! Everybody knows that." Karin protested, obviously didn't like being compared with her brother's lieutenant.

"Well, yeah..you are right! She doesn't annoy me, but you do." He replied, smirking.

"Toushiro!"

"Are you going to listen to me or what?"

Silence.

"I guess because you are you, you find some ways to sneak into my heart, when other people can't. I don't really know when I like you, but one thing I know, having Yuzu as my subordinate is a really bad idea. Every time I see her, she just keep asking me about you, and tell stories about you. "

"Well, she is my sister, what do you expect?"

Toushiro laughed softly.

"Anyways, what you just said didn't answer the question I asked before." Karin continued.

"What question?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"Ahh..that question. It's because I dont know how to act around you."

"You what? Honestly, Don't you have a better excuse?"

Karin smirked as she looked at him.

Toushiro groaned. He never liked anyone before, how could he know what to do?

"Anyways. what are we going to do about them?"

"Them?"

"Matsumoto and Rukia."

"We can't let them get away that easy, you know."

She nodded and giggled.

...

Everything went exactly liked what Toushiro expected, everyone knew about their supposed romance. And he knew, after having Matsumoto as his lieutenant, that the best way to deal with it was just simply accept that it was true. That was why both him and Karin were always seen together.

"Taicho!!" Matsumoto cried when she saw him entered the office.

"Tell me, is it true that you and Karin are now officially dating?"

His eyebrows twitched madly at her question, but he chose not to answer her and walked to his desk.

"Don't be so mean, taicho! You know you can tell me everything." She whinned.

"Matsumoto! How many times do I hav-" His voice faded when he noticed that the tea cup on his table was empty. He knew who drank it. There was just one person who dared doing it, and it was his lieutenant. Smirking a litttle, he chose to ignore her and waited for the right time.

"Ahh.. Matsumoto, Do you know why Kira always comes here?" He asked 15 minutes later, after pretending to pay attention to his paper work.

"He comes to get something, taicho." Matsumoto replied as she was sitting lazily on the sofa.

"And what is that something?"

"It's sake, taicho. It's over there behind you, inside the closet. I put it there so that you canno-" Matsumoto covered her mouth, obviously shocked with what she just said.

Smiling widely, Toushiro walked to the closet and opened it. He was wondering for a long time, how did his lieutenant manage to find sake and get drunk when she was supposed to be working, and he found it. There were at least 20 bottles of sake hiding inside his closet, and he never knew that they were hidden there the whole time.

The vein popped on his head immediately

"MATSUMOTO!! I want these bottles out of my sight."

"It's not fair, taicho!!"

Around the corner, out of sight but not out of the hearing range, Karin was laughing so hard. She couldn't believe that her boyfriend was using a truth potion on his lieutenant. It wasn't like Matsumoto didn't deserve it, but she couldn't believe that Toushiro could come up with a plan like that.

'Well, at least he knew the truth, even it was an awful truth." She thought.

Then she looked at the truth potion bottle in her hand, thinking of what to do with her best friend once she got to see her again.

**sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss**

**Well, this is the end of 'Their perfect scheme', I hope you enjoy it :)**

**My next story is going to be up soon.. it's HitsuKarin, and Hinamori is gonna be this one too...I will make him choose between them :P that's all I can tell you.**

**And thanx everyone who reviewed this story, I really appreciate it :)**


End file.
